Now Commenting On:

Adrian exits with illness, hitting streak ends

Adrian exits with illness, hitting streak ends

BOSTON -- Adrian Gonzalez exited Sunday night's 7-3 loss to the Yankees prior to the top of the third inning due to illness, effectively putting an end to his career-high 18-game hitting streak.

"Yeah, he got sick during the game where he was coughing," said manager Bobby Valentine. "He was getting real dizzy and eyes were watering.

Gonzalez hit .372 (29-for-78) during that span, raising his average from .257 to .283. He finished the first half of the season with just six home runs, his lowest first-half total since becoming an everyday starter in 2006. Gonzalez had never hit less than 13 homers before the All-Star break.

Well-known as an iron man, Gonzalez hadn't missed a game this season and has played in at least 156 games every year since 2006.

Gonzalez was replaced by Nick Punto, who took over at third base and Mauro Gomez slid over to first.